Mind over Robotics Allows User to Sip Coffee First Time in 10 Years

Basically the thought leaders agreed that telehealth is a market in transition, and that we are moving from connecting places to connecting people. Adoption, the experts say, is the biggest hurdle, since telehealth and telecare need to be embedded into the system, and not laid on top of it, or used next to it.

The goal is “anytime, anywhere healthcare” and the “patients” become consumers in an integrated, embedded model where wellness is the focus, and not sickness. Does that not sound wonderful?

The trends? This will not surprise folks who work in private duty/private pay, but the trend is for chronic disease management, and bringing it all home.

The biggest challenge? Institutional healthcare and the current fragmented system.

In the U.S., we are developing islands of expensive information, where in most of the rest of the world the focus is on cradle-to-grave care. We are stuck, in the U.S., on cost and measuring outcomes when we should be focused on results and innovation. Reimbursement is, of course, at the heart of why telehealth is not more widely used in the U.S. At the current time, it is estimated that there is a gap between current capacity and utilization that is 50 times wide. Meaning we have 50 times the capacity and are not utilizing it.

So, what do we need to do? Education and collaboration were suggested. Also, a realization that the drivers for health outcomes are many times related to genes, the environment and lifestyle. Focusing on the individual at the heart of making a change is one thing that may drive more usage of telehealth and telemedicine and telecare.

Today the Geek Squad announced that they have contracted through AARP to be available to help seniors, for an annual fee, with their tech needs. The world of travel, Words with Friends, online shopping, and communicating in general gets a whole lot easier when the technology is applied and working.

Geezer Geeks Unite

So, those of you who target seniors, just another sign that the website should be at the core of your marketing strategy!

In the sage words of our Web Manager, Will Chatham, “it is not ‘if’ my site gets hacked, it is ‘when”.” Right now, more than ever before, the Black-Hat hackers are working to disrupt how we all do business on the internet. There are some reasons that a site gets hacked, and in the last few weeks we have seen all of them in use.

The reasons and the fixes are from Ask Securi:

1. Website with known vulnerabilities
2. Out of Date Software
3. Bad Usernames and Passsword

So, what can you do? My advice would be to hire corecubed to monitor, update and backup your site if that site in is WordPress, but there are the words from another source if you are more of a do it yourselfer:

• Stay away from Soup Kitchen servers – dedicate a server for your testing, staging and production environment. Familiarize yourself with the concept around website cross-contamination.
• Please, please, please update your software – this includes all thing from the web server OS, CMS platform, associate plugins and themes. In the last month or so we have seen updates to both WordPress and Joomla.
• Back up your site, data and anything else associated with the site – don’t back it up onto the same server, that kind of defeats the purpose of a backup.
• Engage a professional – Would you allow your cousin to operate on you if you needed surgery?
• Use unique credentials, stay away from admin and use random generators for your passwords. This applies to everything from your cpanel to database access, every one of those access points are possible attack vectors. Here is an article you might find interesting talking to how someone would crack your credentials, “How I’d Hack Your Weak Passwords“. Here is another one of a small test we did internally to identify the most commonly used credentials through the use of brute-force attacks.
• Don’t forget about your local environment, ensure you are running an AV on your machine – more often than not we see infections initiate from compromised  machines housing trojans.
• Educate yourself – learn the do’s and don’ts about operating your own website, even if you have a professional. Don’t let yourself be a victim to a professional.
• Learn how to use .htaccess to lock down your site.
• Proactively scan your site manually to make sure things aren’t missed. There are a number of tools available to you, here are a few free tools (no emails and or registrations required): SiteCheck and UnmaskParasites

We all benefit greatly from the freedom and access we have with the Internet. Now it is time to put some extra locks on that open door, and to protect your self and your business, and those who do business with you. Call us or email us and we will be glad to help!

Here in Louisville it will soon be time for a beloved annual tradition. The 138th Kentucky Derby is just two weeks away. It’s thrilling to see all the elaborate spring hats, taste mint juleps, spot celebrities, attend Derby parties, and to hear the sound of one lone trumpet play the tune of “My Old Kentucky Home.”

But above all this, Derby-goers get most excited about a bang, the sight of the gates opening and an announcer screaming, “And they’re off!”  Many horses will gallop, but there will only be one winner.

The business world is a lot like the Kentucky Derby. Competition is fierce and the stakes are high–and only companies with well thought-out strategies succeed and mature. Mature businesses, home care or not, are companies that have a strong base of clients and are well known within their industry or region. Plus, they’ve done a good job of branding—their name, logo and products or services are easily recognizable.

So how can you draft a marketing strategy that fits your unique stage of business life? The following marketing tips can help start the process:

TIP #1: Don’t get complacent.

Complacency is dangerous. A well-established customer base can deliver a decent influx of cash for a business, but it can also bring a false sense of security. Far too many agency owners fall into the trap of thinking that name recognition means they can fudge on their marketing plan, or not pay attention to their customers.

TIP #2: Use a strategy that fits the times.

Well-established companies often make the mistake of getting stuck in a rut when it comes to their marketing strategies. It’s not surprising–after all, if a marketing strategy got you this far, why abandon it? The answer to that question is that customers change and marketing strategies and tactics change with technology and competition.

TIP #3: Don’t stray from your core message.

It’s important that your company continues to develop new ways to market your products or services—but be certain that changing strategies doesn’t result in wasted time focusing on issues other than marketing. If you’ve got a good product that works, don’t change it unless a changing customer base demands revision. Change the marketing strategy – not the product.

My expert team at corecubed provides integrated marketing communications services using a strategic approach to help clients create high-impact campaigns to launch or rebrand products or companies. Contact us today!

Hopefully, if you are in business,  you have interesting, unique things to say about your business. According to the findings of a recent survey conducted by HiveFire, Inc., it turns out that your personal reflections, advice and comments on industry trends are what your target audience really wants to read about. I’ve known since I starting blogging, using social media and writing newsletters that the more original the content is, and the more engaging and contemporanious it is, the more success you will find in reaching new listeners. So, if you enjoy writing, and can make it interesting, then write, write, write, and marry the content with a visual as much as possible.

Stay engaged to what your peers are saying and I guarantee you will easily have much more to contribute. The survey results also find that capturing reader attention can be as easy as adding a photo or image to your post. With this advice, sharing via blog, Twitter or Facebook once or twice a week can be a piece of cake.

Recently, I wrote about visual marketing and how relevant graphic campaigns—with the launch of Pinterest and Facebook Timeline—are with today’s audience. Read the post and my earlier posts about home care marketing tips, and you’ll soon realize even more how all the dots of marketing strategy connect, and how a healthy online presence is so important.

My fabulous team at corecubed can set up social media accounts, create a strategy for success, and implement!

I think its a homer....

Aren’t we at corecubed lucky that one of our strong points is the design talent we possess? With the meteoric rise of Pinterest to Facebook’s $1 billion purchase of Instagram, it is clear that visual marketing and messaging are gaining popularity based on results – success.

From an article about Facebook purchasing Instagram:

“Anyone in marketing, PR and social media should clearly see that the momentum is moving to visual marketing and messaging. Pinterest, Instagram Path and Facebook’s shift to the Timeline format all point to the value of messaging through images. ”

So, what can corecubed do for you?

We can create graphic campaigns.
We can tell your company story in images and share it all over the Internet.
We can create strategic, targeted visual messaging for you through Facebook, Pinterest, etc.

Request a free complimentary 15 minute telephone conference with me, Merrily Orsini, by requesting here. It’s certain to be a homer! Thanks to Marissa Snook, corecubed’s MOST Program Administrator for the great shot taken at Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory.

Social media has gone viral, and social media, although still in its infancy is a game changer. Note some of the latest findings from the “2012 Digital Marketer: Benchmark and Trend Report”

• Ninety-one percent of today’s online adults use social media regularly
• Revenue per email averages two times higher for “friends and family” campaigns
• Twenty-eight percent of smartphone owners watch videos on their phones in a typical month
• Pinterest is now the third most popular social networking site behind Facebook and Twitter
• Ninety-two percent of businesses feel their contact data is inaccurate in some way

What can YOU learn from these results?

#1.  Start looking at how your business can incorporate social media into its marketing strategy.

#2. Get some help in understanding how to utilize your businesses contacts in the best way

And, if you want some professional help, call corecubed and we will provide the guidance you need. In the meantime, check us out on Pinterest!

WordPress is responsible for 14.7 percent of the top million websites worldwide representing small, medium and big business.

WordPress is the fastest growing web publishing platform worldwide. While English speaking countries may appear to dominate, WordPress is being used extensively in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Colombia, Spain, India, Romania, South Africa, Netherlands, Peru, Brazil, Philippines, Mexico, and Portugal. According to Google Trends, WordPress is being used in Indonesian at almost triple the rate of English, and nearly the sum total of English, Swedish, Dutch, and Romanian.

See the graph below to check out all platforms. I really love working in WordPress, but more so, love seeing the results from our clients who let us design their websites!

WordPress leads the world in web design platforms

And the estimate from FaceBook in its IPO filing was that it ended 2011 with 432 million monthly active mobile users. FaceBook  also revealed for the first time the number of monthly users who only access the site from a mobile device: 58 million, or 13.4 percent.

If that is not enough for you to be a believer, the article published today goes on to say, “From January 2011 through January 2012, Facebook.com has been the number one online property accessed through personal computers worldwide as measured by total minutes spent and total page views, according to a comScore Media Metrix report dated February 2012. On average, users in the aggregate spent more than 10.5 billion minutes per day on Facebook on personal computers during January 2012. Aggregate minutes per day increased 57% and average minutes per user per day increased 14% during January 2012 as compared to January 2011.”

My fabulous team at corecubed can set up social media accounts, create a strategy for success, and implement! We know the value of social media as well as traditional media in marketing, and are staying ahead of the curve.

There are actually 13 people signing up for Twitter every 13 seconds. If you are interested in actual stats, there is a site that tracks all of this. An example below of the information on Twopcharts.

MerrilyO Wishes Twitter Happy Birthday

Another social media discussion yesterday covered how best to spend marketing dollars and posed the question, “is incorporating social media an important expenditure when marketing funds are limited”? It depends on the target AND the goal. Blogging is almost always beneficial, IF the website alongside which the blog is working is a great website that will generate leads and help convert clients. FaceBook is a good tool to showcase individuality and to offer up some events and product launches. Twitter is a great overall space to help increase SEO for a website and for reaching out to a specific audience, but it takes time. There are tools, of course, to help manage all the social media entries, but the key is strategy.  Look at the marketing budget. Identify the target. Then measure how best to reach that target. Social media is just one tool in the marketers’ toolbox. Want to know if it is right for YOUR business? Ask corecubed’s team of experts.

Now, if you do not have an internet marketing strategy as a core component of your business, or, if you think that doing business on the internet, finding customers and leads, and answering questions is not paramount to the success of any business, think again!

And ask corecubed to help you with that strategy to be competitive in this new world of inter-connectivity.

The JOBS Act proposes to relax reporting requirements for those smaller companies that wish to seek funding through initial public offerings, plus it expands the number of investors allowed for the funding of community banks.

Crowdfunding is the phenomenon that the internet makes possible. is already thriving under limited circumstances in corners of the Internet. Some of the sites that make crowdfunding possible are Kickstarter, (offers rewards instead of equity), HelpersUnite, (primarily for green projects and charitable fundraising) and PetriDish.org, (scientific focus).

The bill that just passed the house and is expected to pass in the senate would be for entrepreneurs looking to raise $2 million or less, and investors would be limited to putting up no more than $10,000 (or 10 percent of their annual income).

Get the full scoop.

And, already, some really great press has shared the movement with the rest of the country. The winter 2012 issue of American Style magazine has printed a wonderful article about the early days of the Studio Glass movement (part 1) with great photos, as well. Click here to read the complete article.

Since 1962, glass art has become a popular and exciting medium for museums, galleries, collectors, artists, and students. One-of-a-kind glass sculptural art is found all over the United States in museums, hotels, cruise liners, botanical gardens, parks, restaurants and many other notable public spaces.

A listing of 2012 glass art events is ever changing and as information is finalized, details can be found online at http://contempglass.org/2012-celebration.

Personalized and social search results are not new to Google. They have been around since 2005 and 2009, respectively, but not included in the regular searches. Now personal, social and public algorithms are all rolled into one happy (for some) search algorithm.

For more detail, you can read all about it.

Due to the advancement of mobile technology and ad screening/blocking software, businesses of all kinds are focusing more on being found online than pushing their products and services out to potential clients. Knowing your target audience can help you narrow down your focus and attract the clients that are most likely to buy what you’re selling.  This blog from corecubed provides more information on how to use inbound marketing to get clients knocking at your door.

For home care agencies, regular blogging, maintaining a presence on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and optimizing websites for search engine rankings are the top ways to boost your inbound reach and ensure you can be found online.

Want a visual of how inbound and outbound marketing work together? This handy infographic should do the trick.

Click image to enlarge

Basically inbound marketing is getting people with an interest in products and/or services to find your products and services, and mostly online. This infographic “splains it” pretty well, and the bottom line is, well the bottom line. It costs less to get a lead and a customer if they are looking for you! No joke. But, the process is strategic and effective. And corecubed has been doing inbound marketing for years now, and our clients are certainly happy that we ARE ahead of the curve. And, actually, so are we….

Dychtwald says that 1) we are in a longevity revolution. Take a look at these two charts if you do not believe that one.  Two thirds of all the people who have lived past 65 are alive right now. Think about that. The first chart shows the life expectancy at birth for the last 1000 years. Hard to read photo, but you can see the trends.

Now take a look at THIS photo which is of the chart of the life expectancy at birth for the last 100,000 years. WOW.

His other points are that we are experiencing massive population shifts, that the boomers are a “new old” and will be more demanding and questioning than the current old people, that we will have a caregiving crunch as the boomers age and that we need to chart a path towards healthy aging.

Solutions? Dychtwald suggested that we steer science in a new direction, one that would solve the chronic issues of again, specifically Alzheimer’s. Since 47% of those people over 85 have a dementia. And, look around, that means if it is not me then it is you. He says we need to champion and motivate a healthier society. We need to prepare medical practices for the demanding and soon to be ailing age wave. We need to better understand and offer palliative care when appropriate. And we need to guide public policy toward a healthy aging.

His parting words? “Demography is destiny.”

Two examples I’d like to share. One is a new software website we just completed for Procura, which can also be accessed in Australian and Canadian.  Subtle differences in messaging and targeting, but using the web for all it is worth by understanding the differences in marketing to specific nationalities.

The next is one that I would use caution about viewing for those who might find it a bit cheeky, or in poor taste. However,  it is a perfect example of how one nationality and its acceptance levels can differ from another. You would never see a prostate cancer organization fundraising ad like this in the US.  However, it is run in a variety of locations in Australia and is a huge hit with its targets and message.

If you pay attention to the commercials and the print ads when you travel, you can really learn a lot about a culture.

So, G’Day, mate and hope it is a good one for you.

The article warns about using emotion appropriately. With healthcare, it’s easy to want to lean on scare tactics to equip an audience with the grim facts. But, if you overdo it, you risk sending your listeners running for the hills and tuning everything out. On the opposite spectrum, if messaging is too positive, it may not seem serious enough for treating patients—unrealistic. A clear understanding of the desired impression is needed to determine an appropriate marketing tone. Educating your audience in a positive way communicates confidence and assurance. 

Stand above the crowded field by using robust and resource-rich content. Using MOST gives you web-based instant access to a library full of themed sales, recruitment, design, and advertising materials created by home health experts. Spanning all types of sales and marketing communications, such as print, web and email, as well as services such as social media, blogs, search engine optimization and public relations, MOST lets you choose what fits your agency best.

As you consider revisiting your marketing strategy, remember the advice spelled out in the article mentioned above—and remember the ever-expanding library of resources you can use with the MOST program.

The first – and most common –action when economic things are scary to a business is to cut the marketing budget. It makes sense, after all. When you have less income coming in, it’s best to cut expenses where you can and marketing is the easiest function to slash without affecting day-to-day business operations. Or so it may seem.

The other option is the choice the wises business person makes, and that is to focus on marketing, and start with planning how best to reach the right people with the right message so they will take action, even in tough times.  In a downturn, when money is tight and consumers are making tough choices, marketing is more important than ever before.  This presents a great opportunity when others are cutting marketing to get in front of your target audience and show the consumer why your products or services deserve their dollars. Customers who may have been in the bag when the economy is riding high suddenly need some extra convincing. They need to hear your message. That’s where strategic marketing comes into play.

In an classic interview with BNET, Dr. Gary Lilien, author of “Turning adversity into advantage: Does proactive marketing during a recession pay off?” a report by Penn State’s Smeal College of Business, pointed to three factors that should be considered before determining whether a marketing endeavor is worth the expense:
• Do you already have a marketing infrastructure in place? If not, it’s going to be difficult in this economy to launch a brand new marketing arm from scratch.
• Does your company have “the guts” to throw down the marketing dollars during a recession?
• Does your company have the budget to spend the money without damaging normal business operations?
“Companies that have been looking at marketing as an investment, and not an expense, and have been running their business through customer knowledge are the ones that are going to come out of this [recession] really, really well,” the article quotes Lilien as saying.
It’s important as well to make certain that your marketing efforts are reaching consumers through venues that they frequent. It’s pointless to spend money on distributing a message that no one will ever see.

Using a variety of media, including the traditional as well as e-mail and social media- outbound and inbound efforts makes it more likely to reach both an older market as well as younger consumers.

No one knows right now what the economy is going to do. If expenses have to be cut, however, choose – but choose wisely. If you abandon your marketing efforts completely, you may soon find that your revenue is going the way of the stock market when it is dipping down.

Come to corecubed for help. We have strategic marketing services that can fit any budget, a talented team that understands how to get business to come a knocking, even when financial times are tricky.

Our talents and skill sets compliment each other, and our systems keep us all working efficiently. Our client successes speak for themselves. I am SO proud of the work we do and the challenges we face and conquer.

corecubed staff in-under the cloud(s)

Teamwork, talent and trying new things.  Just finished a corecubed staff meeting in Asheville, and our award winning team has some lofty goals to implement immediately and in the upcoming months. As a business, corecubed remains ahead of the curve in many aspects. We have been working and playing in the cloud for several years, and while in Asheville we played Under the clouds with an off road segway tour on the Biltmore Estate.

Look for increased talent and emphasis in SEO and inbound marketing with the addition of Don Makoviney to the team. He brings incredible depth of experience in web development, SEO strategy and implementation, as well as a great sense of humor and a “charger” personality.

Jeanette Mangels is also a new addition, and her bubbly personality and aggressive pursuit of excellence are also a great fit for this well balanced and talented team.

Back to real work today, and armed with some renewed energy that we will deliver to our clients!

Just a good thought with which to start off this week which promises to be a tad scary. If we each stood on character, and what we believe is right, then perhaps the decisions would not be so difficult?

Had dinner with some friends last night at a new Louisville restaurant, Eddie Merlots.  Great food and good company. We discussed, among solving the world’s problems, how lucky we are to be where we are in life. For that I have had to say thank you to  many people today and  along the way.

Thursday’s Rotary program was Coach Scotty Davenport from Bellarmine University’s NCAA Division II winning #1 basketball team, and his message was that it was the gratitude of those athletes that makes them special. One of their rules is never delay gratitude, and he gave many examples of how that team thanked their fans, their parents, their coaches, and their university for the opportunity to win. Although not about thanks, but about preparation, here is Coach Scotty in action:

Being prepared and working toward a goal is one pathway to success. Thanking those who help you in life is an underlying process that we should all practice.

So give yourself some time today to make that gratitude loud. Give thanks to all of the folks who have helped you along the way, and who are constantly there by your side cheering you on.

I’d like to personally thank all of my wonderful staff, my loyal and successful customers, and my dear family, and even my good neighbors. Hope all have a wonderful Sunday and that you take some time to say “thank you” to someone today.

A member of the corecubed PR team will present this dynamic and informative webinar to explain what separates the art of public relations from sales, advertising and marketing tactics.

Join us during this FREE webinar tomorrow at noon Eastern Time. Additionally, all participants will receive an informative packet filled with my PR secrets.

Register your spot for this webinar here!

Just a poignant thought to start off this Friday! Hope all have a good day and a great, relaxing weekend.

To successfully negotiate these sales would be a nearly impossible effort. Why? In each situation, the merchant is trying to sell something the prospective buyer doesn’t want or need. Understand who your customers are and what it takes to satisfy them. To have any success selling your goods or plowing your trade, find out what makes your customers tick. Get to know your customers in four easy steps:

STEP ONE: Meet the Customer

Anyone selling anything has a “natural” customer base. There’s a certain group of people who are much more likely to purchase your wares or services than others. There are several ways of identifying your unique customer base. Written surveys and focus groups can help in that regard, but essentially, you can begin narrowing down the options by asking the following questions:

· Are my customers within a certain age range?

· Are they typically married or single? Both? Do they have children?

· Where do they live? Do they reside in rural or urban areas?

· Are they employed in the business world or do they work at home?

· What is their economic background? Do they have a lot of disposable income?

STEP TWO: Discover the Demand

Everyone has wants and needs. The concept of supply and demand is the foundation of successful business. But not everyone has the same needs. Before you can attempt to meet demand, you have to discover what the unique demands of your customers are. Again, ask yourself a few general questions:

· What are the tools they need to do their jobs every day?

· What are their hobbies?

· What do they need to enjoy those hobbies?

· How do they like to spend money?

· How do they spend their time?

STEP THREE: Market Accordingly

In order to sell products or services you have to market—but make sure you’re marketing to the right people.

STEP FOUR: Provide What Your Customers are Looking For

Many companies skip over the first three steps to get to this step—where the sale takes place and the money is made. But it can also be the step at which the merchant realizes that no one wants to buy his products. Without going through steps one through three, you may find yourself advertising catnip to apartment dwellers who aren’t allowed to have pets.

Don’t be afraid of your customers. Get to know them. Talk to them when they show up in your front lobby or in the middle of your grocery aisle or on your website. It can be the beginning of a marvelous relationship.

For information on how corecubed can help you gain a greater understanding of your customers and show you how to market to them, visit us online at www.corecubed.com, or email us at info@corecubed.com.

In the “old days” of public relations, a hard copy press kit reigned supreme. Big bulky folders loaded with press releases, glossy photos and slides were standard in the industry. Today, you can simply direct a potential customer to a page on your website where press materials, high definition artwork and background information are ready to be used. Often called an online newsroom or press center, this is a huge time and money saver. Here are some tips when it comes to creating an online newsroom:

• A newsroom should be a link or section on the main navigation of the website
• A newsroom should always be visible from the home page and not buried
• Populate the online newsroom accordingly—include bios of key executives, white papers, fact sheets, conference seminars, awards, and of course, press releases
• Make certain the person responsible for responding to the media has his/her contact information easy to find

Now’s the Time to Brag!

When an award is bestowed or there are articles written about your business, communicate this to stakeholders. Third party endorsements in the form of media hits lend credibility to a business when customers are searching for recommendations.

Most media outlets have an online version of their print publication, and oftentimes, television stations also place digital clips of news segments online. Be sure to communicate press hits to customers:

• Create electronic newsletters or e-blasts and highlight the news in a special section with links to the websites that include the feature or article
• Maintain a virtual clip book in your online newsroom of media articles to impress customers and potential employees, clients, investors and other media

I hope these tips have been of assistance as you look to maximize your media and public relations success through the Internet. At corecubed we are experts at shouting your success from the mountaintops and building your company credibility through both online and traditional print media as well as radio and television. corecubed provides integrated marketing communications services using a strategic approach to help clients create high-impact campaigns to launch or rebrand products or companies.

Visit us online at www.corecubed.com or email us at info@corecubed.com. Also, join corecubed for a free webinar on July 19 at noon Eastern Time for our discussion titled “Integrating Public Relations with Internet Marketing: Strategy as it Differs from Advertising.” Reserve your seat here: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/643578531.

So how do you know your PR campaign will be worth the money you spend?

To get us started, if you haven’t already figured it out, the Internet is the most cost-effective PR tool. Utilizing the Internet is one surefire way to maximize your investment, measure ROI, and give your business a boost in credibility by showcasing media and PR placements as well as awards you’ve won, company sponsorships, and bylined articles.

The key is to be proactive, not only with your website, but with other sites on the Internet as well. The beauty of getting online press is really two-fold.

•Provides instant access to showcase positive PR to potential customers
•Allows future customers to find your company when media hits are posted on other sites

Receiving recognition for your company wasn’t accomplished by sitting back with your feet up, so translating that recognition into sales dollars should not be a lesson in laziness either.

Be sure to check back as I will continue the PR discussion and post several ways to leverage an investment in public relations to improve online positioning, credibility, internal and external communications, as well as sales and marketing materials. And, start today by benchmarking revenue, source and set a date to come back and remeasure to see if your campaign did, in fact, help in revenue growth.

To learn more of what we speak,  join corecubed for a free webinar on July 19th at noon:

Space is limited, so reserve your webinar seat now at:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/643578531

See you there!

“Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.”
Cardinal, Leo Josef Suenens

“There are two ways to live your life–one is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is a miracle. “
Albert Einstein

“Every survival kit should include a sense of humor.”
An Unknown Author

“The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago; the second best time is today.”
Chinese Proverb

A previous consultant sends me these thoughts each day, and it works to a) make me think of him and b) give me fuel for thought. Strategic planning does work, if you treat the plan as a process and not a plan, and if you revisit that plan often and measure for success.

Consider these thoughts for the day that I especially like as my gift to you today, so you can start your day thinking about planning and starting to work that plan TODAY!

And, of, course, you  know, that if you want help you can get it from corecubed. Visit us on the web or call to chat. We just might be able to help you leap over some seemingly insurmountable hurdle.

Proposals are accepted until July 15^th . The theme for this year’s conference is “Activity Enhanced Home Care,” and how to provide best in class products, services and training to direct care staff to help engage those who are receiving in-home care. The theme would also work for management and operational ideas to make activities and engagement a goal for working with in-home care, coordinating with NAHC’s five equities: intellectual equity, financial equity, physical equity, psychological equity and spiritual equity.

As the in-home care industry matures, and more players enter the market, what services are offered, how they are offered, and how processes are put in place to monitor and add value are all changing and evolving.  PDHCA as an association is ahead of the curve in assisting membership to grow businesses, and understand the nuances of long term in-home care.

Think about either how you can fit into this leadership conference as a presenter, or send me some ideas about ways that home care is working to engage clients and patient’s so their aging in place experience is not a lonely,  isolated one with no activity.

A good article that reinforces this also discusses the “Five Permissions” that a well branded company can expect.

Access. Having a good brand opens doors. Whether trying to sell something or just talk to someone, being from a well known and recognized entity opens doors. A good example is Rotary. Wearing a Rotary pin or mentioning Rotary to a fellow Rotarian will get your call through faster than anything, or, get an introduction made.

Latitude. Because a well branded company means a more trusted company, those from that company can expect more latitude in taking chances. Having proven oneself to the public means that more permissions will be granted in areas unproven.

Recovery. Permission to recover is granted to a well-branded company. A smaller business may not be given permission to restore confidence when a mistake does happen..

Scale. Trust and perception are built into a well branded company. It’s this greater trust in the brand  that allows permission to grow and take on bigger projects..

Set standards. Unknown services, products or technology are oftentimes given a chance simply because a well branded company has a proven track record and it is believed that the company, if they are recommending a product, service or technology, are doing so because they believe will eventually be a standard.

Branding is not just a logo, font, colors, it is what someone thinks and feels about the company, and the reaction that seeing the company name or hearing about the company generates in the viewer. Branding takes time, focused strategic integrated marketing efforts, and a good product or service to back it up. Lately corecubed has been receiving accolades on our branding efforts. IS your brand working for you? If not, give us a shout and we’ll see if we can help!

On Delta (economy class-argh!) and the flight attendant was giving our pretzels. I asked for peanuts! his reply, “Lady, I am giving out pretzels.” End of story. Positive note? The flight attendant on the other end of the cart, retrieved peanuts, and blessed me with them.
That small gesture took the bad taste out of my mouth, and made me smile. Simple gesture, but she met my need, and I felt like I was in first class. Well, almost.

Checking into our hotel in Athens, Greece, we were met with literally throngs of demonstrators outside the hotel in front of parliament. Not a fun sight, nor was it especially settling, since we did not know if the action would escalate or not. The manager was at the front desk, and, when we checked in, obviously unsettled by the commotion, she said, “Oh, it is your anniversary! Why don’t we give you a nice surprise today for your celebration?” And, she proceeded to give us a suite. And what a suite it was, and with a perfect view of the demonstrations! Also, however, with a perfect view of the Acropolis. So, she turned what would have been a huge disappointment into something that is memorable. Get a first hand visual below.

So whether you are selling services or products, when a customer asks you to do something, try and find out what it is you CAN do for that customer. Keeping customers happy is really just one at a time.

It’s no secret, baby boomers are rapidly exiting the workforce, and millennials are entering the scene at a pace double that. Lacking experience and armed with different skills, the next generation of workers is thought to be approaching a divided labor force, and it may be difficult for employers to fill the gaps left by retirees. Sometimes greatness is thrust upon us! Additionally, with the changing demographics and immigration statistics, the percentage of the U.S. working population with at least some college experience is expected to decline, and a study by McKinsey & Company called The Next Revolution in Interactions implies jobs and the nature of our work are changing as well. To read more about these findings, check out The HR Technologist’s recent post here. Will this forecasted talent trend be another blow to our economy?

I believe by now, Americans are accustomed to the unstable job market, and America’s future workers are being groomed by example to set themselves apart. Let’s hope this HR industry insider is just preparing for the worst. What do you think? Also, please share your reliable recruiting tips—do you conduct personality tests, background checks, etc.?

As a pioneer in the home care industry, I’ve enjoyed serving and advocating on behalf of those aging or recuperating in their own homes for thirty years. And, I’ve had the opportunity to expand beyond my niche to incorporate my hobbies and interests with my business efforts—and that is truly rewarding work.

With technology continuously developing, the future swells with possibilities across the board. In fact, today I’m a happy business leader in the clouds. To summarize, on a day that I use to reflect, I am encouraged to continue on.

Cheers to more May 18ths—onward and upward!

Continuum participates in our MOST program, which is a consultative marketing program that focuses on educating and being a resource to referral sources and families.

Thanks to Barth Holohan for being such a good client, and kudos to the corecubed team for another win, and this time a GOLD!

We also just won a Silver Award for a logo/letterhead design for Open Arms Solutions, a home care agency in Chicago. Julie Kollada and her team provide activity based home care to the north Chicagoland area and we rebranded them so their quality came through. Apparently the 28th Annual Healthcare Advertising Awards thought the same, as they awarded us that Silver Award.

Team corecubed Asheville-Orsini, Oliver, Chatham, Heuer

We welcome Peter Oliver to our Asheville office. He is an SEO guru and is working with Will Chatham, Web Manager and Leigh-Ann Heuer, Internet Marketing Specialist, to keep our clients ranked high on the search engines and get more business.

Although I do not have photos to share, we have two other new employees: Jenny Burkett is a media specialist who hit the ground running with previous in-home care experience from a large Chicago agency, and Kim Taylor, a CPA who is working with us on our accounting systems, to keep up with our growth. So, no complaints from the top here. Team corecubed is growing, and our work is continuing to be recognized as the best, not only in our niche industry, in-home care, but also in the wider realm of businesses and organizations.

The Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass website has been nominated for a Webby  Award in the Associations category. The really cool thing about that is that corecubed designed it, and so although it is an award about the association’s design and easy usage of the site, it is really accolades to corecubed’s design team, Tammy Brown and Danielle LeComte as well as to Linda Greene, the AACG Executive Director, all three who worked tirelessly, combined their talents, and the end result was a great website, user friendly, chock full of information and (not to mention) beautiful!

“Things turn out the best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.” Basketball Coach, John Wooden

How about helping us make things turn our REALLY well and sign up and vote for the AACG site?

To register to vote, visit this link.

http://webby.aol.com/media_types/web?focused_on_category=922#cat_id_922

Once you have registered to vote, you will receive an e-mail to activate your account. Click on the link they give you. Then on the voting page be sure to go to “Websites” and “Associations” to find AACG. Once you’ve registered, the link above will take you to the voting page for AACG, as well.

Thanks. See you on the red carpet?

With all that is happening around the world, and with so much affecting each of our worlds, I have a momentous task this morning of bringing it all together at the Missouri Alliance of Home Care’s Annual Conference in the Ozarks where I key note on social media, industry trends and changes in the home care world.

My mother used to say to me, “Whoever told you life was fair?” and I have oft repeated that. However, fairness and really learning how to live with what we are given, how to set goals and strive for me that is within our reach, and how to best work towards a future that we want for our grandchildren and theirs should be on all of our minds.

Today’s key note will not be THAT all consuming, but that quote “Life isn’t about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain.” Is one that I think should bring a smile to everyone’s face and help out when the going gets tough.

Branding works. Brand loyalty is something businesses crave. Marketers do create brands, but customers make them work. The best marketing team in the world can create some buzz about a product or service that works for a short time, but, to really have brand power the product or service has to be stellar.

Enjoy your day today as much as I am enjoying mine!

And, right now, no one really yet knows what the strategy is going forward, but it seems that the sites that really do have solid content, are well designed, and updated frequently are the winners. Basically,  this means, that if you are offering some good information, have it organized correctly, and are legitimate, then your may have won out over those who have been trying tricks to get ranked.

Design seems to be a factor in better rankings. Clean code and simple design helps the search engines crawl a site unimpeded. Also, page structure seems to matter.

Not too many ads. Better to have none than too many.

Relevant content that makes sense, and is not just content stuffed with keywords. Length of articles may also play a role.  ”It seems that excessive amounts of very short articles may be a factor taken into consideration, because if that’s the majority of what you put out, the majority of your content is likely “shallow”. ” says Chris Crum of WebProNews. Also, if you just cannot do without autogenerated content, then it needs to be kept separate from the real content, and not indexed for search engines.

Backlinks are still important but they need to be relevant backlinks from relevant sites.

Basically, these are the things that corecubed has focused on because selling over the web is like selling in person. You have to be genuine, have a good product, and position it correctly supported with good design. There really are not shortcuts to winning. Perhaps those who got ranked because they used shortcuts are now suffering from that strategy, and the search engines will start to work better based on REAL search results, for REAL content, and not just manufactured communication that is irrelevant and created just for rankings.

The World's #1 Brand

The world’s number one brand according to Business Week is Coke.

When you hear “Just Do It”, does Nike spring to mind? How about “Make my day”? A vision of Clint Eastwood is almost instantaneous.

This is the essence of what companies search for when thinking messaging. This is the stuff dreams are made from for a marketer. Can your brand, your name, your tagline bring something to mind? “Where’s the beef?” Now that’s a good one. I’ll bet  you do remember that, but do you remember what product/business it was touting?

Messaging seems so simple. One of my favorite clients is adding a new product line, and he keeps saying to me, “It is so simple!” Well, if it were so simple, then he and we would have the messaging down pat. What makes it NOT simple? Everything!!!!

Let’s start with differentiation. Something has to be different or noticeable about a product or service. Something has to stand out and grab your attention. Or make you think. Or make you salivate. Or make you smile. Or MOVE you in some way.

And the visual has to marry that message to enhance the effect. Now this is a simple thought for today, but, as I set about my day today wringing the essences out of the businesses with whom I deal, and creating the start of a brand, I just wanted to share that it all starts with simplifying the message.

Barry Sharp, a consultant from Vancouver who has helped me with some strategy in the past, sends me a message each day, and, this was today’s message, “The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.” I guess I just wanted Barry to know, publicly, that his daily message a)makes me think of him daily and b) sometimes it really hits the mark with what is on my plate and makes me think about solving a problem in a different way.

BTW, “Where’s the beef?” is from an old Wendy’ ad.

Rotary Meets Social Media: Orsini Speaks

Join Rotary on Facebook!

Take some time to just look at this and ponder the future!

Be human
Add value
Don’t reveal confidential information
Be professional
Be aware of your responsibility
Check your facts and credit your sources
Disclose who you are
Understand and implement your clients’ policies
Know who you are linking to
Pretend it’s a party

The shift from impressions to connections and from campaign to connections, Bough and Agresta state, is the crux of social media and social networking changing how businesses communicate with their publics.

Speaking at the Rotary Club of Louisville today, February 17 at 12:30 PM, I will be presenting an interactive social media event. Please join us in person or virtually.

As an industry, private duty homecare has little data upon which to draw conclusions, benchmark progress, and know effective marketing strategies and tactics.  The last study completed by Home Care Pulse was an industry first in its participation across all types of private duty agencies and across all types of service providers.

The 2011 Private Duty Benchmarking Survey/Study needs each and every agency that provides private duty to participate. It does take some time (30-60 minutes), but to get accurate information on results from a large number of participants, the outcome is well worth the time.

Imagine, running a private duty homecare agency and having this information on the industry:

• In-depth details on caregiver training, recruitment methods, screening, and benefits
• Specific information on billable hours, bill & pay rates, and client retention
• Greater in-depth financial comparisons among geographic regions and states (based on the # of participants from each state)
• 42 marketing methods identified and rated by survey participants

To learn more about the benefits of participation and to be directed on how to take the survey, go to www.homecarepulse.com/studyparticipants.

Survey questions are designed to help participants self evaluate their own performance and plan for the future.

Participating agencies get the full report for $29.95 ( a 90% discount), which really is just to cover the cost of printing, shipping and handling.

To help the industry even further, please alert every private duty home care owner/manager you know in your area, or in your network. The survey closes February 17^th, so take the time to do this today.

The Power of WordPress by Tech King

corecubed has a special expertise in creating websites designed in WordPress.

Via: Online Schools

February 17, 2011 the Rotary Club of Louisville has asked me to address the club, one of the largest in the world, on social media and its usage. Let me know if you’d like to be a part of this!

If you said the viewer needs to know what home care is, who needs it, and how it can be used, you are correct. Add that also who pays is a question that needs answering, how much does it cost, and how does one select a provider.

Like bananas used to be before they were readily available everywhere, home care is something that people do not know about until they have a need for it. Then they simply cannot get enough information about it.

Most people do not know that Medicare does not pay for home care. Or that Medicare only  pays for a small portion of home care, and that portion is VERY highly regulated and tied to specific conditions for which there is a progressive recovery. Home care needs that most people have when they need assistance with activities to help them live daily, are not covered by Medicare and probably never will be.

However, unlike bananas, home care is a hard subject to teach, because it differs based on disease or frailty, support systems available to the recipient of care, financial abilities and geography.  corecubed has a great program we offer for agencies that educates around the questions that someone needing home care might ask. Perhaps we need a cute jingle and a dancing walker to go along with the teaching…..

1. Only hire people you would trust in your own home, caring for your own parents.

2. Only ask people to do things that you would do yourself

3. Use a good scheduling software system that generates billing and payroll from the confirmed schedule.

4. Offer continuous learning to all staff.

5. Treat others as you would like to be treated.

6. Do not use an answering service. Use a remotely staffed employee so the client/referral source always has someone who can make a decision and staff or fix a problem immediately.

7. Always tell the truth to everyone, even if it hurts.

8. Ask for feedback from all staff on how the business could do things better.

9. Make changes in systems or people based on findings from staff from #8,

10. Have some fun when at all possible.

Enjoy and take these to heart for success.

The first is a song by Brett Ethridge about Raymond, the maintenance man at a memory care facility,  who one of the residents thought was her son. That “getting inside the life” of the Alzheimer’s patient was one theme of Dr. Carson’s talk, and no more powerful way to understand that than to see the interaction of the maintenance man with the patient.  It is copywrited, so cannot show it here, but there is a link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txCUwSKo1kg&ob=av3el

The second example was music, and Naomi Feil, an icon in validation therapy, brings a 3^rd stage Alzheimer’s patient into interaction through singing and touch. This powerful and moving video is proof that even at end stages of this degenerative disease, breakthroughs are possible if the caregiver gets inside the lives of the patient. For some reason I cannot embed this video, but here is a link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrZXz10FcVM

Retrogenesis is a controversial topic, but it is just one method of working with Alzheimer’s patients, and those who care for someone with Alzheimer’s should have many tools in their tool boxes, and whatever works best is what should get used. The goal is quality patient care and Dr. Carson certainly can teach how to communicate with those who have Alzheimer’s.

Take some time today to reflect on how far we  have come and how far we have to go.

You know you’re getting older when… getting lucky means you find your car in the parking lot.

You know you’re getting older when… you confuse having a clear conscience with having a bad memory.

These are all just humorous anecdotes, but they bring up the point that old age can sneak up on you.  If you think back to when you were a child, it was hard to imagine your parents getting old.  Although your parents probably felt as if your sole purpose was to steer them into an early grave, from your view, your parents were freeze dried in a state of young parenthood. Then, as if in the flash of a photograph’s time, your parents became “elderly”.  The roles have now reversed and you find yourself facing the dilemma of how best to care for them rather than them caring for you.

Did you know that persons reaching age 65 have an average life expectancy of an additional 18.1 years (19.4 years for females and 16 years for males)?. Which means if you are now 65, you will most likely live to be 80-85 years old.

And, how will you know if those years will be healthy and productive or unhealthy and burdensome years?

Growing older is not like growing up. It is somewhat easy to predict the basic care a child will need the first two years. But care needs for the elderly are directly related to frailty, not age.  And frailty is not predictable. Will your parent’s eyesight or hearing deteriorate?  Will they have a debilitating stroke?  Will Alzheimer’s settle in?  There really is no way to know when or if these situations will occur.

The cost for care needed is also directly related to the extent and type of frailty as well as what informal support is available. Since we cannot predict the future, only speculate and project based on what we now know, it is best to try and be prepared for the future as an aged person, or as the son or daughter of an older person.

Writer Maggie Von Ostrand writes, “There are ways to plan for one’s financial security after reaching the age where you’re asked if you want help to the car. Several telemarketers have tried to sign me up for financial planning, but I always tell them I already have financial planning. If they ask what my Plan is, I tell them I went to my son’s house and said, “Which room will be mine?””

Although there is a wealth of information available about elder care, the most common question hospital discharger planners hear is “Why doesn’t anyone tell you about the problems and cost of care?” The problem is that oftentimes people do not seek out this information until a need, most often a crisis, arises.  And that crisis is usually when care is immediately needed and no one is ready a) for providing that level of care or b) paying for it.

corecubed has a robust home care marketing program that provides a wide range of information for those who are either seeking care for themselves or for a parent or loved one. Smart home care agencies are members so that as the needs arise, they are positioned to give answers and get that phone to ring so they can do an in-home assessment, and then, if the situation is right, provide in-home care.

Last night’s dinner of apple and onion compote with colcannon and a thin, skillet fried pork loin slice could have been served in the wood burning kitchen on an Irish bog. And the Irish Rover, a popular casual ethnic dining spot in Louisville’s Crescent Hill area is always a great place to go for some feel good times accompanied by comfort food. No matter that the comfort food is not what grandma would make, unless you are Irish. O’rsini perhaps would work for me….

Differentiation is at the heart of success as well. And the Irish Rover by name and looks is differentiated. If you have a business, how are you different from all the rest? What is it that sets you apart and makes you memorable?

This is just almost the middle of January and still time for you to set a strategy for marketing. Start with writing down all those things that set you apart, that make you different. Then, scratch off the ones that apply to other agencies. Then look hard at what it is that makes you different, and start thinking of ways to capitalize on that and to take that to market.

Having trouble? See if we can assist you. At corecubed, we happen to be really good at helping our clients determine strategy.

A moment of silence now for the passing of one so dear to so many. Statistics show that the Alzheimer’s caregiver is oftentimes the one who predeceases the spouse with the disease. Another statistic, but one that is personal and powerful. So long Frank O’Callaghan. May you rest in peace.

Jones is currently Chairman of Kayak.com and CIO of Sabre, Inc and a true innovator. Come to Long Beach, join the conference, and listen to Terry Jones start us off with envisioning the future.

Then you WILL have a Happy New Year for certain, as you will be ahead of the competition!

170,000,000 smart phones were sold in 2009
That number is expected to grow 90% in 2010
BlackBerry, iPhone and Android devices will account for over 80% of smartphones shipped in the US this year
It is expected 50% of the US will use a smartphone by the end of 2011
~20% of website traffic in the US will be on mobile devices by then end of 2011.

Join corecubed’s Will Chatham online today at 1 PM Eastern time for a free webinar on yet another reason why you should convert your website to WordPress.

Sign up here: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/860873707

If  you miss the webinar and want to hear it, see it later, go to http://corecubed.com/about/events.

Please feel free to share this wonderful, uplifting and positive story. And enjoy th is last week of 2010.

Asbury-Solomons is a great example of a community that uses the media to showcase activities, partnerships, and events that make living on this special island, in this special community, in fact, special.

Read more about the continuing care retirement community here.

Read the original article here.

Westminster Shores, Florida Retirement Home

It is true that rock n roll is here to stay. And working together and having fun is possible. And loving one’s job is achievable. And creating an inviting visual of a senior facility simply takes creativity.

One retirement home in England has created reminiscence rooms, or nostalgia rooms that contain artifacts of the 50’s. having access to these rooms has brought comfort and decreased anxiety and lessened confusion in some residents.

Coombe End Court, in Marlborough, Wiltshire.

What’s in the reminiscence room…

A Bakelite telephone .

A Hoover vacuum cleaner.

A Singer sewing machine

A vintage dog on wheels toy

Mantel clock with silvered dial contained in an oak arch-shaped case by Smith.

Oval mirror with beveled edge on chain.

Wooden clothes drying rack.

A Wireless radio not WiFi)

A picture of a classic blue Chevrolet.

A Remington typewriter

It seems that using this room has led to a dramatic drop in the use of anti-psychotic drugs taken to combat Alzheimer’s. What a great idea.

Check out this retirement home in Rotterdam designed by Arnoud Gelauff, an architect and co-founder of Arons en Gelauff Architecten in Amsterdam. Remember the elderly now include Mick Jagger, Elton John and Tina Turner.

Modern Retirement Housing by Arnoud Gelauff

There are many new ideas in ways to age in place, and as boomers are aging, those ideas are being actuated. Read the entire article on this Rotterdam project.

The University of Pennsylvania is also ahead of the curve by sponsoring this design conference. Although now past, the results are certain to portend of things yet to be designed and discovered.

First, here are seven steps to creating and implementing your annual operating plan:

• Identify your Key Result Areas
• Identify your Critical Measures of Success
• Set SMART Goals – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Based.
• Develop at least seven action steps for each goal.
• Assign a person to be accountable for each action step.
• Set target dates for each action step.
• Develop a scorecard to measure your success in implementing your annual operating plan.

To help you assess where your employees think you are, try asking them:

Get an Intuitive Check

• How do you feel about how things are going?
• What frustrates you?
• What are you most proud of?
• If you could wave your magic wand, what three things would you fix?

Get an Anecdotal Check

• What are the greatest accomplishments of the past year?
• What are people saying about us?
• What are my staff members concerned about? What are they saying?
• What is the level of staff morale?

To get a feeling for staff morale, ask them these questions:

• How do your employees feel about the work they are doing?
• How do your employees feel about their relationship with their immediate supervisor?
• To what extent do your employees feel proud of the products and services yourr company provides?
• To what extent do your employees feel proud of your company?
• Do your employees feel that they are being fairly compensated?

Quantitative Check

• What are the key quantitative indicators of our success?
• What do these numbers show us about our performance?
• Which of our goals have we achieved?
• Which of our goals have we missed?
• What are our customer satisfaction ratings?
• What is our financial performance?

In order to sell products or services, your company must provide an excellent product or service. That is the key and the baseline from which all marketing and sales efforts must start. Take some time in this end of the year month, and ask questions of yourself, your customers and your employees, so you are planning 2011 based on facts and the reality of what you need to do to succeed.

It is a time in the home care industry that is the most difficult for all involved. However, making the most of it is possible by planning ahead. If you run a home care agency and have not already started the process of planning for the extra staff needed, then you may be too late. October is the prime time to start recruiting for that extra holiday help, since the process for screening takes so long. And, the likelihood of those who self identify as being available actually being available is about 50-50. So, if you have not planned ahead this year, good luck and God bless. Make a mental note to put this on the calendar for next year, and get busy doing what you can with those you have available.

And, whether or not you have made your agency ready for this year’s holiday season, December is the prime time to start thinking about next year, reviewing what was done this year, and planning for how to be more successful. Surveying clients and employees is a first start. What did they enjoy about working for you last year, and what would they suggest as goals for this upcoming year? How can you do what you do better?

What are your sales and marketing goals, and what will you do differently this next year than last? Have you asked each and every caller how they heard about you and why they called you instead of the competition? Have you done an analysis of your current clients to see who they are, and if there are ways to get more just like them?

In the next few weeks, we will focus some on specific ways to start your planning for the next year, and offer some helpful ways to do just that.

In the meantime, realize that each day IS a gift, and that each and every day you do need to accomplish something, learn something new, and be open. Tomorrow corecubed holds two webinars that are significant. One is about using Google to increase search engine traffic to your website. The other is a peak inside our home care specific monthly communications program. You might want to sit in on one or both of these as a first step in your planning for success in 2011.

Will someone else’s life be brighter tomorrow because of what you have done today?
Opportunities are like sunrises – if you wait too long, you miss them.
The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.
Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records.

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving holiday and safe travels.

Setting goals is one inherent part of reaching goals, and planning on how to reach goals is the second part. Realistic goals. Measurable goals. Steps it takes to get to those goals. Simple ideas. So why are we not all rich and famous if it is so easy?

Two more Les Brown quotes might help here:

“Get your ideas on paper and study them.  Do not let them go to waste!”
“You must take action now that will move you towards your goals. Develop a sense of urgency in your life.”
Several years ago I took a Priority Management course. In fact, I took it twice as the concept so intrigued me. Given the gift of a short attention span, I was fascinated by the ability to prioritize based on severity of outcomes. You see, it seems that there are always urgent but relatively unimportant tasks to complete. Those long term strategic tasks always (or many times) fall to the important but not urgent quadrant. So we get the mail opened, answer the p hone and email, and let the planning wait.

That was when I started making time to plan, and making goal setting a regular event. After all, how do you know you have gotten anywhere if you have no destination? And that is where Les Brown comes back into the equation.  Once you are on an upward trajectory, then shooting for the moon is reasonable and attainable. And, if you miss the moon, setting your goals high will certainly get you closer, among the stars, than staying close to home with low goals.

What does all this have to do with marketing? Goal setting for businesses, and goal setting for home health businesses specifically, is the first step. Expansion, more billable hours, different staff, extra services or telemonitoring equipment to offer…all of these are parts of strategic plans for growth. Anyone can grow and reach goals if a plan is made, measurements are taken and noted, and the tactics to reach those goals are put into place. More quotes to follow this week, as I am giving Thanks to all those who have impacted my life in positive ways.

• Create an engaging profile. A business account on Facebook is a bit different than a personal account in that, instead of requesting friends yourself, your business will be “liked” by others. Because of this, you’ll want to create a page with relevant and informative content that will help draw friends and clients to you. For starters, make sure your contact information, website and business hours are listed in the info tab of your profile. You can also add photos, videos and post events that those following your profile can RSVP to.
• Connect with your community. Facebook makes it relatively easy to post different types of media, from text to videos to links. This allows you to create targeted content that your Facebook followers can appreciate and comment on, allowing them to feel like they are a part of your organization. For example, post event invitations for fundraisers or other promotional events and follow up with videos of these events, or post an article that is relevant to your company and clients and link posts from your company’s blog.
• Control your brand. Once you engage in conversation with others on Facebook, you’ll need to closely monitor the posts and comments that you receive. Facebook users can post not only compliments, but also questions and criticisms about your business. Dedicate time to review and respond to any queries or negative remarks posted on your page in order to maintain your business’s integrity.

Most of all, enjoy sharing. If you do not like interacting with others, you won’t enjoy social media. And, if you have nothing to say, then don’t say it! Spend your time linking to others whose words do speak to you in a meaningful way.

Targets are the same for products and services, but how the user finds the information and how it gets validated so that trust is built and money changes hands is radically different. And, it is still changing, and changing rapidly.

The key is to notice the trends, start thinking and planning for how to best be prepared for the future, and be open to the reality that things are different, and old has to be integrated into new, and new must be embraced. a little esoteric for  Sunday evening, but true nonetheless.

So, when candidate A does win, every time we see him/her, are we not going to question his/her integrity? Are we not going to remember that they are dishonest, anti-some religion or group, did terrible things in their life? And how do we build a credible, respectable political contingent if we have such equally terrible folks running for office? If a candidate were a product, he/she would be recalled. If a candidate were a product, he/she would simple not be purchased, thus moved off the prime shelf space. If a candidate were a product, he/she would have to be rebranded, remade and repositioned in order to maintain some modicum of interest from a purchasing public.

How about a marketing campaign for candidates that focused on issues, and their stand, and how they would vote? How about a marketing campaign that focused on experience in solving problems with examples of a problem and how they solved it? How about a marketing campaign that focused on the good things about people and not trumped up exaggerations about past irrelevant encounters or statements made when they were in college?

As a marketing professional it seems to me that the art of selling a good candidate to a hopeful public needs to be reinvented, or we will have an ongoing turnstile of politicians where we throw the rascals out every few years, only to get another set of rascals that need to be thrown out again in a few years.

If you happen to be interested in selling good products or services, focusing on strengths and finding the right targets who need specific messages, then corecubed can do that. Fortunately we are not involved in any political campaign ads, and, hopefully we never will stoop to that level to have a client. Now what does that say about our candidate choices?

The theme in the article was that lifestyle choices are what usually makes for digestive problems, and simply taking a pill to alleviate the problem does not get to its source. On the same page was an article on Bill Clinton becoming a vegan so he can control the progression of his heart disease.

With all the information supporting a healthy lifestyle for a variety of mental and physical reasons, one would have to wonder why we continue to chose the unhealthy path?

MOST Fly-In 2010

Two incredible things to report today:

1. One of our MOST clients has had 30 new clients start service in the last two weeks! Would you not say the word is out?

2. The success of our first ever MOST Fly-In. The post meeting survey found 100% rated the experience “excellent”.

Occasionally in business we find something very special that works better than anticipated.  September 17-19 corecubed hosted the first ever Fly-In with invitations only to customers who participate in our MOST program.  In essence we serve as the marketing, design and writing department for the agency and they pick and choose each month what they want to do for marketing, education, recruitment or retention.  They have access to a web based library of  hundreds of resources that we have created specifically for the home care market since 2007. We also implement for the eNewsletters and the postcards.

The MOST clients who attended spent the weekend getting to know each other and each other’s businesses, learning that it is less lonely at the top when you have someone who UNDERSTANDS your business, and getting incredible insight into how others solved problems and issues. Everyone reported that the experience was well worth the time and expense.  One of those unexpectedly good beginnings.

Featured here is me, Merrily Orsini, weekend host, and Debbie Savage, President of Responsive Home Health Care in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and also a featured speaker at the Private Duty Homecare Association of America meeting in Long Beach this January 23-25, 2011. She has been working on ways to get private duty married with hospitals to keep readmissions down on targeted diseases.

The next webinar on what MOST offers is on October 26th at 3 PM.

Sign up for a trip inside the web based program for home care, home health and hospice here.

“Simply put”, Allan wrote, “in athletics if you catch a bad pass then you have an absolute obligation to literally improve the ball as you pass it to your teammate. No excuses.” Apparently in sports as well as in business the team’s first contact is always the most difficult. No matter what happens on the first contact, the second contact is pivotal. Bettering the ball means that no matter how bad the contact before you was, your job is to improve upon it.

What a great concept with much broader applications in customer service, marketing, and operations. If each and every one of us thought about how we could “better the ball” then there would always be planning, observation, readiness and an attitude of true teamwork.

This week I presented at the National Association for Home Care & Hospice in Dallas, following President George W. Bush and before the Caring Award ceremony. I tried to “better the ball” sandwiched in between those two events, and from the attentiveness of the audience, I somewhat succeeded. The presentation was on social media usage for home care. What I learned from the audience is that folks still really do not understand this concept of sharing and two way communication with the customer. However, usage and dabbling in social media is definitely up!

My next social media presentation is at the Decision Health 13^th Annual Private Duty Conference in Las Vegas in November, followed by the 2010 Kentucky Home Health Association Fall Conference & Exhibition in Louisville. Each and every time I present on social media, things change, new players emerge, and new strategies come to mind.

While continuing to learn how to best use the power of social media I am going to also focus on how to “better the ball” and use some of those strategies that I have learned since finding out about that concept:

Hustle. Move quickly and do your best.

Assess Your Position. Think about where you are in relation to the goal and your teammates. Are your teammates following you? Who is in the lead and/or has the best position to win?

Make a Realistic Choice. Don’t try to be heroic. Keeping the ball in play is necessary if you want to score. By keeping the ball in play you are giving your team a chance to defend and to possibly score. If  you try to make an overly difficult play from a bad position, you may end up scoring a point for the other team.

contact corecubed if you have marketing needs. Our internet marketing and design team works pretty well together to create some of the best strategy and material and websites.

Selling products or services, maintaining profitability, working towards greater efficiencies, foreseeing the future in your industry are all things on which a business owner needs to keep a keen eye, and a sharp planning tool.

What can you do when the water is high to remember the stumps are there, so when it recedes you are not surprised at the dangers, but are equipped to navigate around them, go over them, or pass through them safely?

Here are some tips to keep you focused when times are good and when they are bad:

• Always lead with optimism, even when you can see those stumps
• Collaborate when it makes sense to do so and is practical and relevant, but watch that action is occurring and abandon process if stagnant.
• Building a culture of excellence will always pay off. Focus on it. Build it. This is a great way to get through the tough times.
• Change is good, as we live in a constant state of it. Be an agent for change.
• Go forth and be a fearless leader.

You go where you look so look where you want to go. This will get you through high water and the stumps.

Louisville will serve as a great host city for this event, with participants staying at 21C Museum Hotel (voted #1 hotel in America by Conde Nast) in 2009. Dinner at the renowned Mayan Café on Friday night after a personal demonstration by Centre College graduate and artist Brook White at Flame Run Glass Studio and Gallery. Working all day Saturday on specific pre-identified issues, the group will relax at the Orsini-Heath home before reconvening on Sunday morning for a wrap up and takeaway task session.

There are so many benefits to being in the MOST program, but one of the soft ones is the knowledge gained by sharing successes and failures and working together to make home care in America the quality service that it needs to be. Plus we love getting to show Louisville off, and to bask in the glow of mutually beneficial relationships as we all grow and mature in our businesses.

Now Richie may know a whole lot about agriculture in Kentucky, but, being a UK star probably did more to get him elected than anything else. And, now, he is running for governor. From a long term strategic standpoint, that agriculture position, and the potential for name recognition among anyone who operates a gas powered vehicle, is priceless. Whether or not the ticket is a good winning one for Kentucky, only the voters will determine that. But, for the time being, Mr. Farmer can rest assured that his name is prominently in front of probably 90% of Kentucky voters each and every time they gas up. Talk about smart marketing and a long term strategy. My  hat goes off to that creative and innovative planning.

Gas Pump Label

Want some creative, innovative and targeted ideas that work? corecubed specializes in internet marketing, and we tie in great design and implementation so, if there is a gas pump idea out there, we just may have it working for you!

Is it not amazing that someone in this day and age would have a question about Alzheimer’s disease and what to do? And, even more amazing is that a physician in this day and age is diagnosing age-related memory loss. Reminds me of the joke about the malfunctioning knee and when the doctor said to his patient, “Well you are 80 years old, so you should expect some malfunctioning.” To which the patient replied, “But my other knee is 80 years old as well and it is fine.”

This scenario and question are at the heart of marketing home care services, or geriatric care management services as well. It is simple – when the care need presents, people then start looking for answers and for information. If an agency is positioned so that they have the answers to the questions, and can be found by the person looking for those answers, then that agency is going to get the business. (a few other items come into place here, like great service and quality caregivers).

Check out the newly revamped approach to our MOST program to get the very best marketing through education that is available on the market today. Listen to the last webinar for insights into how it works. Download the brochure for up to date information. Register for the next webinar.

Amazingly the trend is for people to search by company/agency name. The keywords for which people search has not changed hardly at all except that home care jobs is now in the top ten and health care is also right at the top, replacing the “home” in home health care.

What does this mean to the agency wanting to get ranked? It means that traditional marketing and branding are increasingly important in addition to using tactics to get higher ranking.

So, how does an agency with a limited budget compete with the large organizations that are spending mega bucks on marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) and pay per click (PPC)? It means that you had better find a way to get your agency name out there in many different ways that are all internet marketing related.  It means that using social media, using strategic internet marketing and having a well designed website are all things that should be in your corporate marketing tool box. It means that back links to your site are also important. It means that you had better be out giving presentations and educating on home care and making certain that your agency is seen as a leader and an expert in home care. Sounds daunting, does it not? Well, the only program that I know of that accomplishes this is the MOST program. Now in its 3^rd year, with over 30 themed complete packages for agencies to use for their corporate marketing, the MOST program delivers content, design and a team of professionals to implement. Give it a look see and ask me for a special deal that we are running through September 15^th.

To register go to www.privatedutyhomecare.org.

Searching for solutions on line is no different. In shopping for a home care solution for a mother, the basics must be present. For home care it is the services, explained clearly and in a layman’s language, and location(s) served. Also good for home care is some personal information about the agency staff, in particular where does the buck stop? Is that person one who drives the staff towards excellence?  A concerned adult child is looking for some assurance that her mother will be cared for in a loving and safe manner. So, the website as the adult child’s first encounter with the world of home care must relate something personal about the agency and its management.

Then that first phone call to the agency, or in some cases, an inquiring email, is the make it or break it moment. If phone, does the person answering have joy and interest in his voice? If email, is the inquiry answered promptly and personally?

Excellence in business is something for which each of us needs to strive. But it is not enough for just the owners or administrators to strive for excellence, all staff must understand that each and every task can be better if each and every task is accompanied by a quest for doing it better each and every day, and always learning what works best and applying more of that the next time. When is the last time you asked yourself or your staff what it is that makes an excellent company? And then benchmark against that as you grow your business. You will know excellence when you experience it, and your customers will tell you, over and over, how much joy it brings them that your team understands and strives for excellence.

Check out our team corecubed, and ask us to do something for you. See if you don’t agree that we have excellence as our goal no matter what the task.

Wikipedia goes on to say that “The Internet has brought media to a global audience. The interactive nature of Internet marketing in terms of providing instant responses and eliciting responses are the unique qualities of the medium. Internet marketing is sometimes considered to be broad in scope because it not only refers to marketing on the Internet, but also includes marketing done via e-mail and wireless media. Management of digital customer data and electronic customer relationship management (ECRM) systems are also often grouped together under internet marketing.”

And, it was if we wrote this about our company, since Wikipedia continues to explain that “Internet marketing ties together creative and technical aspects of the Internet, including: design, development, advertising, and sales.”

We used to tout that we were interactive marketers, and that also fits in this definition as Wikipedia expands it to “Internet marketing also refers to the placement of media along many different stages of the customer engagement cycle through search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization (SEO), banner ads on specific websites, e-mail marketing, and Web 2.0 strategies.”

So how does Wikipedia define “Marketing”? As “the process by which companies create customer interest in products or services. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business development. It is an integrated process through which companies build strong customer relationships and create value for their customers and for themselves.”

So one last definition is that of customer relationship management (CRM) as “a broadly recognized, widely-implemented strategy for managing and nurturing a company’s interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes.

Now I cannot tell you how good it feels this morning, and going into this week to know that we are defined, all on one page as to what we do, and charging forward to continue the good work we have been doing for the last 13 years, but with a definition of what that work is! Go team corecubed. And visit our website to see an example to showcase that we do know internet marketing and are pretty darn good at it!

Fishcar Lobster Conductor

The fishcar’s inventor calls this the Sashimi Tabaernacle Choir, and he travels around the country astounding those who vie for attention at art car functions. And, with all the singing (my favorite was Aquarius from the musical, Hair) and the lighted moving sea life, it is hard not to stop dead in your tracks and admire (?) the workmanship and ingenuity. And he did get some good press while here.

So what is the marketing message? Like wearing a sandwich board or standing on the curb dressed as a chicken the art car makes a statement, gets attention, and makes folks want to know more. In home care, it is hard to take a message from such a frivolous and fun event, but there are things that get attention and make folks want more. Clinics that offer services for free so people can try out a service before buying it, dial-in information lines so people can find out if the agency does provide a good, friendly service…just two examples of things that a home care agency could do to make a statement and get attention. There are loads more, and if they fit with the agency’s  branding and mission, then all the better.

Planning how to get attention for a home care agency is not as easy as its coming naturally as a fishcar, but it is possible. And then following up with media and web based communication about the event gives it “legs” so more people can find out about it. Plus the benefits will spread around for more time than just the time of the actual event. Read Amy Chilla’s blog on corecubed if you want an insight into telling your story better. Fishcar or no.

Self selection is how folks get there, and referrals. No TV, no cell phone access, just pure nature and rustic accommodations with touches of luxury where needed.  So how do they market? Catering to the high end travel and leisure business they invite the travel writers to come and visit and then just let them experience it. They provide excellent services and accommodations to their guests, and the property manager makes certain that guests know what they are in for prior to booking. It certainly is not for every vacationer, as this is a place where one can be inactive as possible (picture book at lake with view), but also highly active with kayaking, canoeing, hiking and exploring the countryside. There are no locks on the cabins. Nothing unsafe in the area (except for moose and bear) and no reason for alarms or calendars.

"Truly Remarkable" Just Needs the Right Place to Tell the Story

This is one of those truly remarkable places/products/services of which I often times write. Give folks something truly remarkable and the telling of that story is easier. On a side note, it was Coolidge who provided one of my favorite quotes, “ Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race”.

The difference between experiential knowledge and knowledge obtained by research, consulting or learning from others is simply different. Thinking of an analogy, it seems that you can learn how to climb, what supplies to take with you, what to do in case of an emergency, but until you have donned the equipment, faced the elements, and actually climbed a mountain, you really cannot empathize with the hardships you face, the meaning of split second decisions in an emergency, the responsibility and the feel of the weight of the responsibility that comes from having safety over the lives of others.

Translated into running a home care business, it seems that starting, growing, understanding hardships, facing challenges and the problem solving that evolves comes out of that experience allows a person to walk that talk better than not having experienced it. It is facing a difficulty and working through it that gives a greater depth of ability to understand issues.
Our Private Duty Business Manual and all the forms one could ever want to use are available for sale on our Home Care Agency Marketplace, www.markethomecare.com. All of these processes and forms come as a result of years of experience actually starting and growing a business, and running it profitably along the way. Many of the questions I get on the private duty marketing webinars are answered in our marketing module, and all the information in all of our forms and manuals has been personally vetted, if not written, by me. So, why not use a proven tool to help growth, and one that comes from experience, having walked that talk for over 17 years and having talked that talk for 13 more.

Some benefits to using a content management system (CMS):

1. Updating. It is really easy to update a website without needing to know programming code or be skilled at web design.

2. Cost savings. It is much quicker to add pages, post articles, and link to files than it would be with the old standard HTML designed website, and you don’t have to pay another skilled person to do it.

3. Scalability. With a CMS site, planned and designed for growth, expanding and growing is easy to do with a great system already in place. ExpresssionEngine and WordPress allow for easy expansion without starting over from scratch.

4. Community & Connectivity. When updated often and set up to integrate with social media outlets, a CMS often has the ability to easily make connections with other sites and to bring more visitors to yours.

However, let me emphasize that there are other reasons that make a CMS site beneficial to the business, but those relate to the skill set of the designers and the people planning the site (which we have in depth here at corecubed):

1. Clean code. What that means to you is that the search engines like it and it makes the site ranking better if the parsing is easy.

2. Flexibility. We can easily change out showcased items on the home page, what is featured on the inside, and where photos and text are located.

3. Attractiveness. Well this is not really the CMS, this is our designers! They do know their stuff and continue to deliver top quality and incredibly attractive design.

Note that the clean code and attractiveness come from the skill of the person setting up the CMS. Don’t be misled thinking you can slap up a CMS site and have clean, SEO-friendly code out of the box. It is as easy to build an awful CMS site as it is an awful HTML site! “Well. Maybe even easier…….” says Will Chatham, Web Manager at corecubed.

Join us with a new website or a redesigned website if your business is sluggish, or if you have new products or a new story to tell. We specialize in content-driven websites and utilize ExpressionEngine and WordPress on a regular basis. Our web design team is deep and rich, and we use these tools to provide ourselves and our clients with powerful content management that doesn’t sacrifice SEO, clean code, or beautiful custom design.

We have recently completed redesigns of several home care agency sites in ExpressionEngine, a content management system that allows for incredibly intense and powerful design with that added power of editing capability for the owner. A blog is built into the software, and the code is clean so the search engines love it. A picture is worth a thousand, so take a glance at Live Free Home Health and also Responsive Home Health. I think you will be impressed with the design, the information, the ease of navigation. And, just imagine if you had the power to edit as well!

Also, although we did not control the design on these sites, we recently redid three websites in WordPress for Michael Giudicissi and Melanie Stover who run Power Shot Training, allowing them the incredible power to control content, to add information, to edit and post photos or links as they wish. Anyone who knows Michael G knows that he has a million ideas, and what better format to be able to post those ideas than on one of his websites. Check them out and go often so you can understand the power the owner or administrator or marketer has to control messaging and to launch ideas.

http://www.powershottraining.com/

http://www.homecaresales.com/

http://www.homecaresalesuniversity.com/

Want one for your agency? It’s as easy as calling 800-370-6580 x3, emailing info@corecubed.com or going to www.corecubed.com and filling out a contact us request.

Since we have loads of products and services that directly help those in the home care, home health care and hospice industries, you should know that we just upgraded our marketing site www.markethomecare.com so it is now easier to use, and better meets safety and compliance standards. Take a look see and let us know what you find there. We add in new products regularly, and the prices are right for those watching their budgets. And, in case you are not finished celebrating and want to see the largest fireworks display in North America, I am including a video from Thunder Over Louisville. Definitely NOT a flash in the pan, but the real fireworks deal.

I just love the term “Google juice”, and they have many things to say about how blogging links boost your Google juice.  Again, this also now applies to social media, a phenomena that was not present in 2006 when they wrote the book.  In fact, nothing boosts your search engine’s standing better, they said.  Neither a press release or a full page ad in the NY Times will boost your search engine rankings as much as regularly updated blogs. The shortest, cheapest, fastest and easiest route to prominent Google rankings is to blog. Note that this is still a great way to get Google rankings, but we now recommend using WordPress as the tool in which to design your website so you have the benefits of search engine friendly text and format, plus a ready to go built in blog. And that technology is affordable. Take a short web questionnaire to see costs.

Some reasons to blog (also now works with reaons to use social media IF YOUR WEBSITE IS UPDATED, ATTRACTIVE AND INTERACTIVE:

Blogging’s Six Pillars:  The six key differences between blogging and communications channels; you can find one of them elsewhere but not all:

Blogging lets you listen to what people are saying about your product, company or category and gives the opportunity to respond.

“Word of mouth on steroids” (blogging)  builds credibility, enthusiasm and customer evangelism. The same can be said for using social media.

So step 1 is to take a hard look at your website and see if it needs updating, redoing. Then step 2 is to take some action today.

Continuing to share my research when interactive marketing was just in the beginnings, and relating it to social media today, I am taking excerpts from Robert Scoble and Shel Israel, “Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers. I love the term “Google juice”, and they have many things to say aboout how blogging links boost your Google juice.  Again, this also now applies to social media, a phenomen that was not present in 2006 when they wrote the book. In fact, nothing boosts your search engine’s standing better, they said.  Neither a press release or a full page ad in the NY Times will boost your search engine rankings as much as regularly updated blogs. The shortest, cheapest, fastest and easiest route to prominent Google rankings is to blog.
Blogging gets good ink and a lot of it, so it has to be good for attracting and retaining customers.
Blogging’s advantage as a recruiting tool.

The most important aspect of the blog is that it’s conversational.  Phones, faxes, email, SMS, and IM all extend the conversation through online forums, bulletin boards and chat rooms.  But none of them lets one person converse with many people of multiple locations from any point where she or he has a computer internet access; not until blogging.
Collectively, there is compelling evidence of communication’s revolution is underway, moving from a controlled one-way model to a decentralized interactive one.  Businesses need to join the conversations because they build trust.
Because blogs are also the lowest cost communications channel, you can reach thousands, perhaps millions of people, for an investment of a few cents and some personal time.
Blogs are infinitely more efficient than any other corporate communications medium.

Blogging’s Six Pillars:  The six key differences between blogging and communications channels; you can find one of them elsewhere but not all:
1. Publishable – anyone can publish a blog.  You can do it cheaply and post often.  Each posting is instantly available worldwide.
2. Findable – through search engines, people will find blogs by subject, by author or both.  The more you post, the more findable you become.
3. Social – the blogosphere is one big conversation.  Interesting, topical conversations move from site to site linking to each other.  Through blogs, people with shared interests build friendships unrestricted by geographic area.
4. Viral – information often spreads faster through blogs than via a news service.  No form of viral marketing matches the speed and efficiency of a blog.
5. Syndicatable – by clicking on an icon, you can get free home delivery of RSS enabled blogs.  RSS lets you know when a blog you subscribe to is updated, saving you search time.  This process is considerably more efficient than the last generation method of visiting one page of one web site at a time, looking for changes.
Linkable – because each blog can link to all others, every blogger has access to millions of other bloggers.
Blogging lets you listen to what people are saying about your product, company or category and gives the opportunity to respond.
“Word of mouth on steroids” (blogging)  builds credibility, enthusiasm and customer evangelism.

The message was that the core marketing revolution is about the way businesses communicate – not just with customers but with entire constituencies – partners, vendors, employees, prospects, investors and the media. Author/philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer once observed: “All truth passes through three stages: first it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third it is accepted as being self evident.”  This new interactive marketing (revolutionary at the time in 2006) was being called “conversational marketing, open source marketing, two-way marketing, even corner grocery store marketing”. Now we just use it and it has become self evident!

Basically, Scoble and Israel state that blogging is not for anyone, but it works for a company that is a good company, has a good product, and has some interesting stories or referral possibilities in a particular knowledge base. The blogger-writer must be authentic, passionate and an expert with knowledge to impart with the time to blog regularly.  It is this transparent, authentic communication between business and customer that draws the attention of users who are interested in the product or service. Then the interactive communication becomes a customer generator, as trust is built.

They quoted John Naisbitt, author of Megatrends: “Everything never changes.  Something has changed, and it impacts everything else.  Your life is the same; people go to the same jobs at the same places, they go home to the same families and watch the same TV programs.  Everything never changes.  Something has changed, and that something will impact a great deal; but life as we know it will continue.” And I beg to differ with this noted futurist, that life as we know it has changed. The impact of the personal computer via a mobile hand held device and the impact of social media on daily time spent interacting has changed, and it has changed dramatically.

The authors of the book agree with me in that they felt the blogging phenomena was creating revolutionary changes. The book asks, “If we were to have met you in 1994, the same young developers at Netscape were finishing up a browser that would let you view internet pages and get to those pages quickly on links, and that is what started to change the world of information sharing.” Would you think that the World Wide Web or the stagecoach, or the Gutenberg press were revolutionary changes when they were first used? History has to tell us when something is revolutionary. However, apparently history, recent history, has told us, and the Internet and how businesses are selling products and service has changed. And the way partners, vendors, employees, prospects, investors and the media get information, make decisions, and impart information has changed dramatically.

The crux of this interactive marketing, however, and one that seems to have been missed lately is that companies need to offer something so unique, valuable and compelling that people will want to tell others about it.  The writers of this now landmark book state that what turbocharges word of mouth is loyalty to people you trust, not companies whose brands you recognize.  And, “None of this matters unless the product or service is truly remarkable.” (I did just reference this statement recently, and did not know where I had seen it. Sorry to not credit you, Scoble and Israel)

If you create something remarkable, something worth remarking about, then people may actually choose to remark about it.  If they do, the word spreads.  Ideas that spread win, and they rely on people telling people.  The best way to do this is to make something worth talking about.  Marketing is now about product development, not hype.  Remarkability the authors state, is in the eye of the consumer; if the marketplace doesn’t think your product is remarkable, then it’s not.

Understanding who needs to know and how best to get to them are key to spreading the word effectively about a product or service. Right now, in today’s world, one of the best, most universal ways to reach targets is through the Internet. Whether by a website or social networking, the key is first getting attention and then keeping it. And lastly it is in converting those who are interested into buying.

There are many distracters and much noise out there vying for attention. There are also many opportunities, but, alas, that window of opportunity simply will not open itself.

What are you going to do today to see just how you can open that window? For some deeper thoughts on a global opportunity, think on the video below.

I founded a geriatric care managed home care agency. I forged forward with developing systems for training, for recruiting, for marketing that unique (at the time) business. I broke new ground in Louisville and in other cities working with people to teach how to run that kind of business. I initiated organizations, and established the Midwest Care Managers group so like minded service oriented people would get together, share best practices, and grow the industry. I prepared, and continue to prepare, others with whom I work for meeting the future in home care.

Also a pioneer in marketing home care using traditional as well as new social media, the trend continues. I and my business team at corecubed are leading the way in developing Web sites that help agencies compete in today’s market place. We are opening up new referral sources through our MOST program. We founded the MOST program forging and breaking new ground in educating about home care and how to meet needs through in-home care. We initiated and established educational PPTs and handouts for download and for takeaways so teaching and spreading the word about home care as an option to many situations could be explained fully and understood by many. And we are preparing those with the potential to refer to home care so they will understand and use the agencies that use MOST when their clients or loved ones have home care needs.

Yes, I am a pioneer in home care, and corecubed is a pioneer in marketing and teaching about home care. And, as pioneers, we are continuing to forge and break new ground in ways that our clients can use traditional and non-traditional methods to have clients find them when there is a potential need for home care.

See what Barbra London has to say about MOST and Merrily and corecubed:

Read much more about the conference, including lectures, visiting artists and exhibits in the area.

And forgive my inattention to all things work related as I delve into my passion and enjoy the over 30 exhibits around Louisville and Southern Indiana, and also the many friends and new friends who have the same love for glass art that my husband and I do!

Ranked last in the conference, Coach Strong is undaunted about his new team’s capabilities. He has put together a great coaching staff, covering all the bases, and he has put effort into recruitment snaring 4 out of the top 5 graduating high school football players in Louisville. So, for a man who is used to being ranked first, he just sees this as one hurdle that he can easily get over, and over which he has some control.

And he is focusing on education. 39 of the team’s players made over a 3.0 this last semester after some strict rules went into place about class attendance and grades equating to playing on this soon to be memorable team.

Enthusiasm, focus, dedication and drive seem to be components that Coach Strong brings with him. What a pleasure it is to experience positive and uplifting moments and to hear good news about predictions for the future. Coach Strong got two standing ovations from the mostly business crowd, and if he is as successful on the field as he is in front of an audience, then watch out Big East as those CARDS are coming back.

By offering a Web-based library full of operational, sales, marketing, recruitment and retention materials, targeted to home care, the MOST program members have access to highly professionally designed marketing and related collateral material as well as a team that implements the external communication of the material: we send our a monthly eNewsletter and update a member’s Web site with resources, links, and downloads.

All of this activity is just to keep the agency top of mind with the customer and to create the agency as an expert in care matters for their exclusive geographic area. The home care provided by our MOST clients must indeed be truly remarkable, but we are driving the traffic to give those agencies a chance to rise above the competition.

The program has morphed over the almost three years we have been offering it, and anyone who has looked at it in the past, needs to take another look at it today. If anyone wants a personal tour inside the Web based system, just ask! email info@corecubed.com and request a private tour. You will be glad you did.